Talk on Ram Mandir cancelled because JNU fears my arguments: Swamy

New Delhi: BJP parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday said his lecture on the Ram Mandir issue was cancelled by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) authorities because they feared his “powerful” arguments in favour of the temple.

A talk by Swamy was scheduled to take place on Wednesday evening at Koyna Hostel in the campus under the rubric “Why Ram Mandir in Ayodhya”. The event was organised by a group of students on the 25th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya.

In an interview to a TV channel, Swamy said the university feared him because he could articulate his arguments well and advised the Vice Chancellor of the varsity (M. Jagadesh Kumar) to “grow some spine”.

“I advise the Vice Chancellor to grow some spine… He can let us know (if concerned about security), we will make the arrangements,” Swamy said.

“(The) problem essentially was that the Left was threatened by my arguments…. the Leftist charge against us of intolerance is most ridiculous, to say Hindus are intolerant is even worse. The entire history is against this, look at the Parsis, look at the Jews, how they were looked after.

“Left is a fascist ideology, and they coin these popular terms hoping people will swallow it, but today people are not ready to swallow it because there’s a counterview,” he added.

JNU Students Union Vice President Simone Zoya Khan told IANS that the union — constituted of members from Left parties — had nothing to do with cancellation of the programme, which was organised by a few students “associated with the right wing”.